PTI, PAT allotted separate places for rallies

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Capital Administration (ICA) on Friday evening allotted two separate places to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) to stage their rallies. The issue of already announced and planned sit-ins by the two parties has however not been touched or explained by the administration as around 31,000 personal of Police and paramilitary forces took up their designated positions in and around the capital. PTI has been allotted a stage near Aabpara on Kashmir Highway, while PAT has been asked to make its stage and rally on Faisal Avenue on Zero point. As PTI accepted to set up a stage on Kashmir Highway near Aabpara, the PAT was insisting to hold its rally on Khayaban e Soharwardy till the filing of this report, a demand district administration of Islamabad refused to accept. PTI’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervaiz Khatak was seen bucking up the party supporters who were performing traditional dance on PTI anthems at the Aabpara venue in the night hours, in an apparent effort to calm them down. Earlier, the party supporters got infuriated hearing the scuffle between PTI and PML-N workers near Gujranwala. As the news spread, the PTI workers tried to remove the containers on Kashmir Highway near Abpara with the help of a Crain they had brought from KPK the other day. But feeling sensitivity of situation as the place is almost 1-2 kilometres from the sensitive Red Zone and diplomatic enclave, the leadership clamed them down.Police officials, meanwhile, told Daily Times that Interior Ministry has given them strict instructions not to show any leniency towards PTI and PAT leaders and workers if the violate peaceful limits. He said that CCTV cameras being installed to check the suspicious activities